Simon Matthews made three trips this spring to the emergency room of his local hospital in Eastbourne, on England’s southeast coast, before doctors managed to figure out what was making him so ill.
He had a fever of 104 Fahrenheit, uncommonly high for an adult. On his first foray to the hospital — in an ambulance — it was feared he had meningitis. Cleared of that, Matthews, 62, was sent home with a vague diagnosis; doctors believed he had an unidentified viral infection.
But in addition to the fever, Matthews had the beginnings of what quickly turned into an itchy, full-body red rash — a type that a few decades ago all parents dreaded, and all doctors recognized.